Care, courage & clinical excellence take centre stage
The four-member jury, each with a unique clinical lens to evaluate the nominees, shared how they selected the winners for the 2026 awards. A two-step process was involved in selecting the awardees. The first stage involves selecting the top two contestants from the entries received in the respective categories before extensive deliberation to select the winner selected through a secret ballot. Importantly, where conflicts of interest existed, judges recused themselves from both deliberation and voting. Prof. (Dr.) Dinesh Kumar Yadav, Head, Department of Paediatrics, ABVIMS and Dr. RML Hospital, termed maternity care as a long-term investment for the country. “It’s not the safety of the birth process, it’s not the presence of skilled manpower there, but the end result is that you have a healthy child, which can be a good asset,” he said. With about 25 million annual births in India, Dr Yadav said the scope of assessment should extend to adolescent health, nutrition and immunization, which lay the foundation long before a woman becomes pregnant. For the hospital, Dr. Madhu Goyal, Director of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Fortis La Femme, analyzed a detailed checklist of NICU, blood bank, OT and LDR status, infection protocol, emergency response, rapid response team, imaging facilities, fetal medicine specialist and more. However, he kept coming back to something the checklist couldn’t capture – women not percentages. “When an individual patient comes to you, they want everything to be perfect.” Dr. Goel described a scenario that a physician would label a success — a premature baby, unpredictable but ultimately healthy — that the mother did not experience as one. Bridging that gap, he says, is about communication. “The single most important thing is communication.” Prof (Dr) Manju Puri, Senior Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, SGT University, said he assessed the nominees through the lens of indicators while drawing a clear distinction between counting and measuring. For example, he says, a hemoglobin test is a process indicator, but only meaningful if the woman goes into labor without anemia. “It’s not the numbers. There are numbers, big numbers in the public sector. So that’s the outcome indicator that we look at.” Dr. Puri evaluated the nominees on maternal mortality rates, complication rates, labor outcomes, partogram maintenance, facility readiness and response time, and whether respectful care was provided. He noted that care, within its framework, costs nothing while improving quality, does not require large budgets or infrastructure overhauls. “It requires identifying what’s broken, fixing the lowest-hanging issues first, and sustaining improvement rather than treating it as a one-time exercise.” In Fertility and Reproductive Care, Professor (Dr) Surveen Ghumman Sindhu, Senior Director and Head of IVF and Reproductive Medicine at MAX Group of Hospitals, assessed how much care the centers provided beyond clinical outcomes. “It’s not just the women who are grieving, the man is grieving. He’s suffering from depression. So how many of us actually look at the husband and say, OK, I need to talk to you, too.” Dr. Sindhu was equally instructive about language, for example, telling a patient that her IVF cycle failed differently from telling her that it didn’t work this time. “Fail means he fails.” Good fertility care, in his assessment, begins three to six months before treatment begins with prenatal counseling, correction of anemia, thyroid testing, and how to communicate negative results. The winners in the 13 categories of the Times Future of Maternity Awards 2026 were those who came closest to meeting this standard. In other words, it’s not just about infrastructure and outcomes, but the quality of care a patient receives when things go as planned, and the quality of communication they receive when they don’t. Here is the complete list of winners in the gold, silver and bronze categories: 1. Comprehensive Maternity Hospital of the Year (Regional)
Sagar Chandrama Hospital – silver- Cocoon Hospital – Bronze
- Kamalnayan Bajaj Hospital – Bronze
- Bhagirathi Neotia Women and Child Care Centre, Kolkata – Bronze
2.Nutritionist of the Year
- Saloni Arora, Nutritionist and Founder, Women – Gold
3. Fertility and Reproductive Medicine Center of the Year
- Ajanta Hospital and IVF Centre, Lucknow – Gold
- Sagar Chandrama Hospital & Fertility Center – Gold
4. High-risk pregnancy and maternal critical care centers of the year
- Aster Medicity, Kochi – Silver
- MSD for Mothers – Bronze
5. Child care brand of the year
- R for Rabbit – Gold
- Himalaya Wellness Company – Gold
6. Years in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
- Neotia Bhagirathi Women and Child Care Centre, Newtown, Kolkata – Silver
- Sagar Chandrama Hospital & Fertility Center – Silver
7. Best Mother and Child Hospital in India for comprehensive care
- Ankura Hospital – Gold
8. Maternal Health Policy, Advocacy and System Impact Award 9. Fetal Medicine Specialist of the Year
- Dr.
Vandana Bansal Surya Hospital – Gold
10. Center of Excellence for Women’s Health 11. Fertility Specialist of the Year
- Dr. Jayesh Amin – Bronze
- Dr Geeta Khanna, Ajanta Hospital and IVF Centre, Lucknow – Bronze
12. Transformational leaders in maternity healthcare
- Dr. V. Harshini, Raya Hospital – Silver
- Dr.
Sonal Jain Jaiswal – Bronze
13. Innovations in baby gear and baby safety
- Grogather (Rimashi Lifestyle Pvt Ltd) – Gold
